1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an indicator which is attached to a wiper blade of the type used on a vehicle windshield. The indicator is a paint having an active ingredient that causes the indicator to change in appearance when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. This change in appearance corresponds to the useful life of the wiper blade.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is generally known to those skilled in the art that organic rubber tends to degrade when exposed to ultraviolet light. This is usually seen as hardening and cracking of the rubber. Most windshield wiper blades are made of this organic rubber, and with time, these wiper blades will lose their effectiveness.
Heretofore, unless the user of the wiper blade kept track of how long the blade had been in use, there was no way to determine when the wiper blade should be changed without a close inspection.
Because the deterioration of the wiper blade is a gradual process, a user would continue to use the wiper blade long past its optimum life. Vision during use would thus be obscured if the wiper blade had deteriorated past its effective life. Therefore it would be desirable to have an indicator which would alert the user when to replace the blade.